Introduction
The Princess Bride by William Goldman was published in 1973 and quickly garnered a reputation as a literary classic. It was also adapted into a successful film. Over the years, scholars have explored several themes that the author presented in the book, including gender roles, true love, and the importance of keeping promises made to others.
This paper will critically analyze some of the critical perspectives on The Princess Bride, including work by Kylie Baker, Anita D’Souza, Sagar Lonial, Don Falls, James Edwin Mahon, Daniel Malloy, and Elizabeth Sharp. In particular, these authors agree that the novel’s themes and motifs include love, honesty, gender, femininity, and the value of keeping one’s promises. However, they differ on key issues, such as the portrayal of gender roles and the significance of tone and humor.
Critical Perspectives
In their article, Kylie Baker, Anita D’Souza, and Sagar Lonial analyze The Princess Bride in the context of cancer treatment. Baker and her colleagues use four frames from the film adaptation to illustrate how themes in the story can comfort and inspire cancer patients (Baker et al. 129). On the other hand, the authors Anita D’Souza and Sagar Lonial suggested that the character of Westley, who overcomes multiple obstacles to save his true love, serves as a model for patients battling cancer (D’Souza and Lonial 2423). Kylie Baker, Anita D’Souza, and Sagar Lonial all agree that the book can be used to provide hope to people facing complex medical challenges.
In their critical analysis of the text, Don Falls and James Edwin Mahon took a philosophical approach to examine the nature of truth and the importance of honesty. Fall maintains that true love requires honesty and that the story in The Princess Bride authoritatively illustrates this point (Falls 15). On his part, Mahon expands this idea by arguing that men of action must be truthful to be effective and that the story of Westley and Buttercup exemplifies this principle (Mahon 20). Therefore, both authors agree that honesty is an important component of love and heroism.
In his critical evaluation of The Princess Blind, Daniel Malloy explored the promises in the text. He argued that the characters’ adherence to the promises eventually leads to their success (Malloy 26). In addition, he suggested that adherence to promises made to others is a central theme in the story, and it illustrates the power of keeping one’s word. In particular, Malloy notes that the characters are bound by promises that help them overcome the numerous obstacles they encounter.
In her critical analysis of the book, Elizabeth Sharp took a feminist approach by examining how the story’s female characters navigate gender roles and expectations. Sharp argues that the character Buttercup is an embodiment of “niceness” associated with traditional femininity and that this can often be problematic (Sharp 105). However, she suggested that the story ultimately challenges gender norms by allowing Buttercup and other female leads to assert their agency and power.
Points of Difference
While these scholars approach the text from different perspectives, they share several concerns and questions. In particular, they recognize the power of love, honesty, and keeping one’s promises. They recognize the importance of these themes in the story and explore how they are embodied in characters in the text. The authors also explore the significance of The Princess Bride as a cultural artifact.
However, despite their agreement on some points, they have deep differences on other points. For example, Sharp’s feminine perspective on the text is profoundly different from the others as she challenges how gender norms have been challenged or reinforced in the story (98). Similarly, Kylie Baker, Anita D’Souza, and Sagar Lonial’s medical analyses are categorically opposed to the cultural and philosophical perspective adopted by Don Falls and James Edwin Mahon.
Areas for Further Research
An area where further research is needed is the use of humor in the text. In particular, the author has used humor and satire in the framing devices, presenting the story as an abridged version of a fictional work and in the character of the narrator, who has a habit of interrupting the story with commentary on personal anecdotes. However, scholars disagree on the use of humor and satire in the text, arguing that it distracts from the essence of the story rather than being a central theme.
For example, Don Falls maintains that humor emphasizes the artificiality of the romance genre and undercuts the melodrama present in the story (Falls 13). Further, he argues that humor allows the audience to view the characters with a critical eye and avoid being swept up in emotional turmoil. However, Daniel Malloy argues that humor in the novel amplifies the emotional pay-off of the romantic plotline (Malloy 27). According to him, the use of humor in the text allows the audience to invest in the characters and feel greater satisfaction when the love story in the text reaches its pinnacle with a happy ending.
Another issue that requires further research is the book’s relationship with the genre. Specifically, critics have argued that The Princess Bride is a subversion of the romance genre, while others maintain that it is an obvious example of the genre. For instance, in his article, James Edwin Mahon refers to the book as a parody of the romance genre. He suggests that the book’s plot is intentionally over-the-top and unrealistic, satirizing the conventions of the genre (Mahon 19).
However, Kylie Baker and her colleagues have a different opinion. They hold that the book is a re-invention of the romance genre (Baker et al. 127). As such, they argue that the novel is faithful to the romance genre’s core themes of love and adventure but tweaks these themes for a modern audience.
Another area that has received relatively low attention from scholars and critics is the novel’s treatment of gender and femininity. However, Elizabeth Sharp’s 2023 article addressed these points, although not comprehensively. Sharp believes that the novel maintains a complex and nuanced view of femininity that includes the traditionally feminine qualities of kindness and nurturing and a more modern version of femininity based on assertiveness traits (Sharp 98). According to her, the portrayal of Buttercup and Queen reflects the push and pull between various expectations of femininity. Therefore, further research should focus on how femininity and gender are treated in The Princess Bride by William Goldman.
Overall, Goldman’s critical perspectives on the book reveal a rich, comprehensive, and diverse body of scholarship exploring multiple interrelated and sometimes different issues and themes. However, despite the comprehensive nature of these critical perspectives, there are areas that further research could explore. Additional research on the book should focus on its relationship with the romantic genre, the use of humor and satire in the novel, and Goldman’s treatment of gender and femininity in the story. As a scholar with intimate knowledge of the critical materials surrounding the novel, I would be interested in exploring the role of power and agency in the novel’s plotline.
Specifically, I am interested in exploring the power dynamics in the relationships found in the book and how they relate to the broader themes of identity and gender. The tentative thesis for such eventual work is that the novel presents a nuanced and complex view of the power dynamics in romantic relationships that is sensitive to gender and identity issues, opening up new avenues for understanding love and agency in contemporary culture.
Conclusion
In conclusion, as one of the most iconic novels of the 20th century, The Princess Bride has been critically analyzed by multiple scholars. These scholars’ analyses centered on multiple themes and motifs in the book, such as romantic devotion, truthfulness, gender identity and female roles, and the significance of honoring commitments. However, despite some convergence among these authors, some differences arise, especially on issues such as the portrayal of gender roles in the novel and the significance of tone and humor. Kylie Baker and her colleagues analyze the book from four specific frames in the book’s film adaptation, highlighting the different themes and emotions they convey.
Anita D’Souza and Sagar Lonial adopt a medical perspective in their analysis of the text, while James Edwin Mahon and Don Falls take a philosophical approach. Finally, Elizabeth A. Sharp examines the book’s portrayal of gender and femininity in the book. Despite the comprehensive analysis of the book since its publication, some areas, such as its relationship with the romance genre and the use of humor and satire, warrant further research.
Works Cited
Baker, Kylie, et al. “The Princess Bride in Four Frames.” Film Matters, vol. 13, no. 2, 2022, pp. 127-132
D’Souza, Anita, and Sagar Lonial. “What the Princess Bride Teaches Us about Outcomes in Multiple Myeloma.” Journal of Clinical Oncology, vol. 39, no. 22, 2021, pp. 2423-2425,
Falls, Don. “True Love and False Fronts.” The Princess Bride and Philosophy, edited by Richard Greene and Rachel Robinson, Open Court, 2015, pp. 13-18.
Mahon, James Edwin. “Why Men of Action Don’t Lie.” Falls, Don. “True Love and False Fronts.” The Princess Bride and Philosophy, edited by Richard Greene and Rachel Robinson, Open Court, 2015, pp. 19-26.
Malloy, Daniel. “The Magic of a Promise.” The Princess Bride and Philosophy, edited by Richard Greene and Rachel Robinson, Open Court, 2015, pp. 27-33.
Sharp, Elizabeth A. “Modern Bridal Femininity: Navigating Niceness as a Princess Bride and a Bridezilla in the United States.” Feminism & Psychology, 2023, p. 98-116